Oakland rampage, former student kills seven

By: Kamala Kelkar and wire reports

A nursing school dropout went on a shooting spree at his former university yesterday, killing seven and wounding three before fleeing in a stolen car, police said.

One Goh walked into Oikos University mid-morning and executed a woman at the front desk, witnesses said. He then walked from classroom to classroom, spraying bullets indiscriminately with a .45-caliber handgun. The police identified him as a 43-year-old Korean national but did not say if he is North or South Korean.

The head of the Christian private school, which serves the Korean community, confirmed that Goh was a student. Witnesses said Goh dropped out several months ago.

Art Richards was driving by the university on his way to pick up a friend when he spotted a woman hiding in the bushes and pulled over, he said. When he approached her, she said, “I’m shot” and showed him her elbow.

“She had a piece of her arm hanging out,” Richards said.

As police arrived, Richards said he heard 10 gunshots coming from inside the building. The woman who was injured told him she saw the gunman shoot one person point-blank in the chest and one person in the head.

After the rampage, police said, Goh took off in a stolen car. Officers arrested him at a nearby shopping center about an hour after the shooting.

At the mall, a security guard approached Goh because he was acting suspiciously, KGO-TV reported. Goh told the guard he needed to talk to police because he had just shot people.

“He didn’t look like he had a sign of relief on him. He didn’t look like he had much of any emotion on his face,” said Lisa Resler, who was buying fruit at Safeway with her 4-year-old daughter when she saw the man.

Goh is in custody but has not been charged, said Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan. Authorities have recovered the weapon they believe he used in the shooting spree.

“It’s going to take us a few days to put the pieces together,” Jordan said. “We do not have a motive.”

Jordan said there were about 35 people in the building when Goh began shooting. Five of the victims died at the scene and two at the hospital. The three who were wounded were all in stable condition.

Tashi Wangchuk, 38, said his wife was in a nursing class with eight others when she heard gunshots.

“She locked the door from the inside and turned off the lights,” Wangchuk said.

The shooter fired at the door, but “he didn’t get in.”

“She’s a hero,” he said.

Paul Singh told the Oakland Tribune that his sister was being treated for a gunshot to her elbow. His sister told him the gunman entered her classroom and ordered students to line up against the wall.

“He grabbed a lady that was filing, and brought her in and said everybody get against the board,” Singh told the paper. When he showed his gun, students began running and he opened fire.

“She told me that a guy went crazy and she got shot,” Singh said. “She was running, she was crying, she was bleeding, it was wrong.”